Hocus Pocus
by A Hollywood Horror
Summary: [Formerly A Love Story]Alyssa James has hated Oliver Wood since their first day at Hogwarts. Now, after a series of magical events, she feels odd, happy feelings around the Quidditch obessed Scot. Could it be love, or is it just a bunch of hocus pocus?
1. Chapter 1: An Old Hatred

A Love Story.

Oliver Wood.

I despised Oliver Wood more than any other student at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. He was arrogant, annoying, obnoxious, revolting, and completely disgusting. Worst of all, he was my partner for double Potions.

"You're doing it wrong!" I told Oliver as he was stirring the Draught of the Living Dead potion Snape assigned everyone. Oliver was stirring clockwise instead of counterclockwise. His mistake was turning the potion a wonky shade of pink when it was supposed to be a light shade of lilac. Frustrated, I shoved Oliver aside and furiously started to stir counterclockwise hoping to fix his mistake.

Much to my dismay, Snape chose this exact moment to tell the class to stop. He walked around the classroom commenting the dozen paired students and their potions. No one achieved the clear appearance as the book said, but one or two had managed a pale grey.

Snape arrived at the table Oliver and I worked on. He glanced down at our pink potion and scowled.

"Miss James and Mr. Wood, what an incompetent pair. I can't see how either of you got an Outstanding on your O.W.L.s," he sneered. "No matter, you all are to bottle your potion"--he grimaced at a Hufflepuff's tar-like potion--"and leave it on my desk."

"I'll get it," I said as I grabbed a flask and started to fill it with the pink liquid.

"Do you think I'm incapable of performing such a task?" Oliver asked.

"No, I just don't trust you." I put a cork in the flask and started towards Snape's desk.

"And why is that?" Oliver questioned, following me.

"I don't like you very much." I placed the flask on Snape's desk and began to walk back to the table.

"Why don't you like me?" He seemed to be asking himself more than asking me.

"Because you are incredibly annoying." We reached the table and started to put away my copy of Advanced Potion Making.

"When am I annoying?" He packed his books away as well.

"RIGHT NOW!" I screamed at him. He was, after all, terribly annoying.

The bell rang as I stormed out of the dungeon. Several people watched with frightened faces, others looked amused. Oliver, however, stood looking completely dumbstruck.

I headed to the Great Hall for lunch, thankful that the morning has passed. Once in the large room, I went straight to the Gryffindor table and sat beside my best friend Morgan.

"He's dreadful," I sighed as loaded my plate with food.

"Snape?" Morgan asked while loading her plate with sandwiches.

"Oliver Wood," I stated glancing at Oliver, who was surrounded by the entire Gryffindor Quidditch team and Lee Jordan.

Morgan shrugged, mouth full of sandwich, "I ahways thought he was kindah coot."

A piece of bread shot out of my mouth and landed in front of a second year down the table as I laughed. Morgan thought he was cute. That was very odd.

"Oh come on Alyssa, he's not that bad. And he is very cute." She stared dreamily Wood.

"He's horrible and stupid! I'm going to fail Potions with him as a partner," I whined. "Why couldn't I have got stuck with Cedric Diggory?"

"He's gorgeous!" Morgan squealed causing quite a few Ravenclaw's to look our way. She merely smiled and waved.

"I agree. He is." I smiled at Morgan and gathered my things; lunch was almost over. "See you in Binns's class," I told Morgan as I headed off towards Professor Flitwick's classroom for Charms.

"Today we will be working on nonverbal spells. We'll be doing the easy charms since it's hard without pronouncing the incantation. Now, you'll be levitating those cushions"--he pointed to a pile of violet cushions in the corner--"into these boxes." He motioned to a row of boxes on the wall behind him. "Get to it."

I walked over to the pile of cushions and patiently waited for the crowd to clear. As I waited, I thought about what Morgan said: Oliver wasn't _that_ bad. She could be right, but she was terribly wrong from my point of view. I've disliked Oliver ever since my first day here at Hogwarts.

"_Do you mind if I join you?" a small, brown-haired boy asked me. He had just opened the sliding door to my compartment. Apparently all others were full._

"_Not at all." I smiled and picked up my luggage from the seat across from me and placed it in the rack above my head._

"_I'm Oliver Wood," he said in a strong Scottish accent while sticking out his hand for me to shake. _

"_Alyssa James," I shook it and smiled. He returned it._

"_So, are you excited?" he asked._

"_Very. And nervous too."_

"_What house do you think you'll get?"_

"_I don't know," I answered. "My mother was a Ravenclaw but my father was a Gryffindor."_

"_Both of my parents were in Gryffindor," he said matter-of-factly, "so I'll be a Gryffindor too."_

_The door slid open again to reveal an elderly women pushing a tray of sweets. "Anything from the trolley, dears?"_

_I got up, followed by Oliver, and looked over the trolley. "Two Pumpkin Pasties please." The lady handed me the sweets after I paid her. Oliver bought a few Cauldron Cakes and some Bertie Bott's._

"_I love Bertie Bott's. I have almost every card," he boasted._

"_I think they're nasty."_

"_Yea, well, you're ugly!" he snapped back._

_Completely offended by what the small Scottish boy said, I did the only thing I could think off: I hexed him. I turned his nose a dark purple. He gasped, shocked, and hexed me back. Instead of a purple nose, he made my ears swell._

_I screamed as if someone had used an Unforgivable Curse on me. People came running to our compartment to see what was going on. A few Prefects came and got rid of my swollen ears and Oliver's purple nose, separating us after we looked normal again._

"Oof." I was pulled from my thoughts by a body crashing into my own. Looking up, I saw a pair of grey eyes staring into my green ones. The owner of those beautiful eyes was none other than Cedric Diggory.

"I am so sorry. I went for the cushion and someone pushed me. I didn't mean to bump into you. Sorry." He picked up two cushions and handed me one.

"It's okay, really. Thanks for the pillow."

"You're Alyssa James, Gryffindor, right?" he asked while walking toward his desk.

I nodded while following him to his desk; my own was only a few feet away. "And you're Cedric Diggory, Hufflepuff's Quidditch captain and Seeker, no?"

"Yea," he answered sounding slightly surprised. I looked up and found him smiling. Smiling in return, I turned and started to walk over to my desk to practice the much-hated nonverbal spells.

"Hey, uh," Cedric said, making me pause and turn to face him once more. "Do you want to, er, practice together?"

Blushing slightly, I agreed. I set my cushion down in front of me, took my place beside Cedric, and started trying to make it fly across the room into its box.

One hour, countless flirty comments, and quite a few mumbled incantations later Cedric asked to walk with me to Herbology. He had it as well.

"So," Cedric started as we walked out the large oak doors of the Entrance Hall into the cool, wet October weather. "Do you have any plans for Hogsmeade next weekend?"

I had completely forgotten that the first Hogsmeade trip of the school year was next weekend. Of course I had no plans whatsoever expect to stick to Morgan. "Nope."

"Do you want to spend it with me?" He glanced in my direction. I could see a faint trace of red in his cheeks.

I smiled, "I'd love to."

He looked at me, smiling widely, as we walked into greenhouse four and settled ourselves next to Lee Jordan and the Weasley twins. Professor Sprout walked in carrying a menacing looking plant signaling the start of the lesson.

"He asked you to Hogsmeade!?" Morgan squealed at dinner later. I had just told her about Cedric.

"Yes," I blushed looking over at the Hufflepuff table and found Cedric looking back. He smiled, which I returned, and turned back to talking to the Hufflepuff Quidditch team.

"What am I supposed to do?" she asked looking at the handsome Hufflepuff too. She then turned back to me and gave me a puppy-dog pout.

"Shop with Angelina or Alicia," I suggested. Angelina Johnson, Alicia Spinnet, and Katie Bell were in our dormitory. We all were friends, but I would chose Morgan over the others any day.

She grumbled, "Fine." She then paused, a smirk worthy of Marcus Flint played across her lips. "Maybe I can flirt with Mr. Wood. Since, of course, you have no liking for him whatsoever."

I made gagging motions when she said this. Morgan laughed, threw some corn at me, and kept eating.


	2. Chapter 2: Hogsmeade

A Love Story.

Oliver Wood.

The morning of the Hogsmeade trip I woke up excited. Angelina and Alicia were already up and getting ready. Morgan was in the process of waking up. Katie, however, was slightly snoring.

Yawning, I sat up, grabbed my toiletries and headed off to the bathroom to get ready. When I returned, Morgan was getting dressed while Katie was pulling her hair back. I walked over to my bed and started to get dressed.

"You seem happy today," Alicia noted after seeing my smile nonstop as I was dressing.

"She's spending the day with _Cedric Diggory_," Morgan said while smirking at me.

"Are you serious?" Angelina asked.

"Mhm," I responded. I grabbed my gold and scarlet scarf, bid everyone farewell, and headed down to the Great Hall for some breakfast.

The Great Hall was barely occupied; all of the students seemed to be in the Entrance Hall waiting on friends and dates. I walked over to the Gryffindor table, grabbed a piece of toast, and walked into the Entrance Hall, joining the crowd, to wait on Cedric.

After a few minutes, the tall Hufflepuff came down the stairs grinning madly. He walked directly to me, engulfed me in a hug, and kissed my cheek. A group of third year girls giggled causing me to blush furiously.

"Keep the snogging in private, please. No one wants to see that." Oliver Wood walked by looking exasperated. Angelina, Alicia, and Morgan followed him. Morgan mouthed a 'sorry' as they headed off toward the other Gryffindors.

Filch had marched down the marble staircase and stationed himself by the great oak doors with a long piece of parchment in his bony hands. He was checking off the students' names as they passed him, pausing every so often to catch someone trying to sneak out without permission.

The walk down the lane to Hogsmeade was long and cold. I bundled into my coat and scarf trying to fight off the growing chill. To my left, Cedric copied my movements.

"Where do you want to go first?" Cedric asked as we entered the High Street.

I looked around at the students and the shops. Scrivenshaft's Quill Shop was one or two doors down from where we were and I needed some new quills, badly.

After Scrivenshaft's, we headed to the Three Broomsticks. Just as we were about to enter, Cedric pulled me to the side of the door.

"Do you, erm, want to go to Madam Puddifoot's?" He blushed. A group of fifth year girls walked by us shooting disgusted looks at me.

I smiled at him, "Sure."

We walked into the warm and cozy tea shop hand in hand. I walked over to a small table by the window while Cedric got our drinks.

"It's really nice in here," I commented as Cedric placed our drinks on the table and sat in the small chair.

"It is. I've never been in here before." He blushed as he sipped his steaming tea.

I smiled. "I've never been here either."

Half way through a wonderful conversation about _Quidditch Through the Ages_, none other than Oliver Wood walked into the small shop. A timid looking Ravenclaw girl clung to his arm.

"Well, if it isn't my favorite Potions partner." He led the girl to a table next to Cedric and myself.

"Bugger off."

"No double date?" he smirked.

"You're a downright git, you know that?"

Oliver started to say something but the tiny Ravenclaw touched his arm. He turned to look at her, slightly annoyed. She looked extremely embarrassed.

I sighed, stood up, and grabbed my scarf and coat. Across the table, Cedric did the same. He grabbed my hand and led me through the door and into the cool sidestreet.

"I think Wood likes you," Cedric stated as we were browsing Honeydukes.

I couldn't help but laugh. While doing so I knocked over a display of Acid Pops.

Cedric looked at me alarmed, then glanced around the shop. With a swish of is wand the display corrected itself.

"I'm serious," he stated. "The way he acts… it bothers me at times."

"The git hates me." I looked at Cedric. "Are you alright?"

He rolled his eyes and continued looking at a rather large and fancy display of dancing Ice Mice.

**A/N: **I know it's short, but it's an update. :


	3. Chapter 3: The Match

A Love Story.

Oliver Wood

The next week passed uneventfully. Whenever Oliver and I would have to interact, the only words said included "troll", "bitch", "asshole", and my personal favorite, "dung brains."

Cedric and I, however, were as happy as we could be. The day after Hogsmeade he asked me to be his girlfriend. Now, we were inseparable. We would walk to class together, spend free periods in the library or an empty classroom, and spend workless afternoons out on the grounds.

The weekend before Halloween held the first Gryffindor Quidditch match. Of course, it was against Hufflepuff.

Cedric and I spent very little time together that week due to his practicing. I was sad, yes, but this also meant the Gryffindor Quidditch team would be practicing like mad because of Oliver. He would be practicing after classes instead of being a bother in the common room. I was thankful for the small break from the Scottish troll.

"Who's side are you taking today?" Morgan asked the morning of the match.

I shrugged, "I figure Gryffindor could stand to lose one supporter for one game." I then bewitched my scarlet and gold scarf into a yellow and black one.

Morgan chuckled slightly. "Come on, then."

We headed down to the Great Hall and sat amongst the buzzing crowd of Gryffindors. Several gold and scarlet clad students cast me dirty looks, the dirtiest of which belonged to Oliver Wood, while a few Hufflepuffs looked at me curiously. Cedric, however, grinned madly, causing a few of his teammates to laugh.

Students roared as the Quidditch teams stepped onto the field. Oliver was glaring at Cedric as they approached the center of the pitch. They shook hands and mounted their brooms; both teams copied their captains' movements. Madam Hooch blew her whistle signaling the start of the game.

The players zoomed around the fields like tiny blurs in motion. The quaffle changed positions constantly while the bludgers threatened to knock players off their brooms. If it weren't for Lee Jordan and his commentating, I would be utterly lost.

"Spinnet's got the quaffle! She's heading to score." Lee's voice echoed across the large pitch. "Intercepted by Locke. He's heading for the goalposts. He's going to score. OLIVER! WAKE UP!"

At the Gryffindor end of the pitch, Oliver was gazing off into the crowd, unaware of the game being played around him. He jerked out of his daze at the sound of his name. He looked up just in time to see the quaffle fly by his head and into the metal ring. Hufflepuff scored.

The game continued like this for half the morning. Gryffindor would have the quaffle, Hufflepuff would steal it and then score due to the Keeper's lack of paying attention. Oliver seemed to be staring off in the crowd, in my direction, until Lee screamed at him. Professor McGonagall hit Lee in the head with her gloves after he muttered quite a few profanities to describe Oliver and his goal guarding skills.

"Harry's seen the snitch!" Lee sounded relieved. "He's chasing it. Diggory's following him. Apparently he's seen it too."

I followed the crowd's stare as scarlet and yellow blurs whizzed past the stands. Harry was ahead of Cedric due to his better quality broom. But Cedric, having more experience, could see the snitch better.

After a few minutes of everyone's eyes on the seekers, including Oliver's, Hufflepuff got a few more goals in. The score now was 180-20. Hufflepuff would win no matter who caught the snitch.

"Cedric's got the snitch!" Lee yelled. A loud groan emerged from a gold and scarlet section of the stands.

"Hufflepuff wins." The yellow and black clad students roared, filling the pitch with cheers and laughter.

I squealed, jumping up and down. To my left, Morgan rolled her eyes at me and watched the players land on the pitch. The Gryffindor team gathered and walked sluggishly off the field while the Hufflepuffs cheered carrying Cedric above them.

After the crowd cleared, Morgan and I headed to the locker rooms. I told her I'd meet her back in the common. I was waiting on Cedric.

Not long after Morgan left, the Hufflepuff Quidditch team came out cheering and chanting. Bringing up the rear, sporting the biggest smile I've ever seen, was Cedric Diggory.

"We won!" He ran over to me and picked me up, spinning me around in circles.

"I know, good job." I smiled at him. He grinned even wider, if possible.

He put me back down on my own feet when a sudden sparkle shone in his eye. He then closed his eyes and slowly leaned down to me, closing the space between our faces. His soft lips touched mine for what seemed like a fraction of a second.

When I felt him pull away, I looked up at him shocked. He blushed furiously and began mumbling incoherently. I couldn't stop a small chuckle from escaping my lips.

He looked at me, appalled by my actions. He blushed again, mumbled a 'sorry', and headed off towards the castle.

I groaned and headed after him, stopping him just before he left the pitch. "You didn't give me enough time to react."

He turned and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry."

We walked back to the castle hand in hand.

**A/N:** the first kiss:D cheesy, i know.


	4. Chapter 4: Damsel In Distress

A Love Story.

Oliver Wood.

The following Monday at dinner, Professor Dumbledore made an exciting announcement.

"As you all know, this Friday is Halloween. We shall be starting a new tradition here that night." A flurry of murmurs broke out in the Great Hall. Dumbledore held up his hand to quiet the students.

"We will be having," he paused, looking around the hall," a Halloween Ball."

After the buzz of conversation died down, he continued to give us details about the ball. It would be in the Great Hall, on Halloween of course. It was scheduled to start at eight o'clock, ending at midnight. Classes would end early and costumes were required. Though, I didn't know a single soul who would've come in normal clothes.

Morgan and I chatted with Angelina, Alicia, and Katie about the Ball and costumes all throughout dinner. Alicia wanted to be a cat. At first, Angelina wanted to be a dementor, but later changed her mind and decided on a member of the Weird Sisters. Katie decided on a witch, from a muggle point of view: uglier than a troll. Morgan and I, however, were undecided.

After dinner, I waited for Cedric in the Entrance Hall. When he emerged from the sea of students, he greeted me with a smile and a quick kiss.

"So, what do you want to be?" He asked as we walked the maze of basement corridors. I knew the Hufflepuff common room was somewhere near the kitchens, but I wasn't sure about the exact placement or how to get in.

"I don't know." We passed the entrance to the kitchen. "What do you want to be?"

"Hmm." He stopped in the middle of the brightly lit corridor and smiled at me. "How about a pair of vampires?"

Vampires, I thought, they're not that bad. "How about I be the vampire, and you be my victim?" I smiled toothily at him.

He gasped in mock hurt. "I will _not_ be the victim! _You_ should be the damsel in distress, not me."

"I wasn't calling you a damsel in distress. Though, that's not a bad thought."

He snorted and began walking. "How about a princess and a knight in shining armor?"

"I'm assuming you'll be the knight."

"Of course, my princess." He stopped as the corridor branched off into two different ways. Apparently the common room was down one and I wasn't supposed to know which.

I smiled up at him. "I'll see you tomorrow, my knight in shining armor."

He leaned down and gently placed his lips on mine before I headed back to my own common room.

* * *

­­­­­­­­ 

It was Tuesday. It was a horrible day. It meant I was locked in a dungeon with Oliver Wood all morning. I hated Tuesday.

Today, Snape's assignment was to brew up an Elixir to Induce Euphoria. It was a fairly easy potion to make, but my partner made everything a thousand times worse, as usual.

By the end of the morning, our potion reached an obnoxious orange instead of the sunny yellow it was supposed to be. I was definitely going to fail this class.

"How was Potions?" Morgan asked as I sat next to her at lunch.

"Not as bad as I thought it would be. We didn't really say anything to each other. I liked it."

"Maybe he's bummed about the match." Morgan looked curiously at Oliver. He seemed to be attacking his lunch with a fork.

"Maybe."

After lunch, I met Cedric in the Entrance Hall. He greeted me with a smile and a quick kiss, as usual.

"How was Potions?"

"Not that bad. I think Wood was just bothered by the match." We entered the Charms classroom and headed to our seats.

The rest of the day passed normally. After Herbology, Cedric and I walked to the Entrance Hall together. He disappeared into the basement as I climbed the marble staircase.

When I was half way up, I saw Oliver Wood descending, a grin on his face and his arm draping over the small Ravenclaw girl from Hogsmeade. The girl, just as in Hogsmeade, shot me an apologetic glance as Wood let out a low chuckle.

It took everything in me to not turn around and curse him. I was older and wiser and could do much more damage than turning his nose purple. This also meant I knew I'd suffer consequences. So, I calmed myself and headed up to the common room.

**A/N:** Blah. Sorry about any errors in the past chapters, I'm trying to be more careful now. This one was kind of a filler. Sorry if it sucks.

Reviews are lovely.


	5. Chapter 5: Happy Halloween

**Hocus Pocus.**

Oliver Wood.

I exited the Astronomy tower and headed to lunch. Classes would end after lunch due to the Halloween Ball tonight. I was utterly exited. Cedric and I had agreed on the princess and knight costumes, even though it was a bit cliché. And Morgan decided on a fairy.

Morgan was waiting for me at the Gryffindor table, already stuffing her face with food. "Happy Halloween!" she said after she swallowed the troll-size bite of chicken.

"Happy Halloween to you, too." I smiled at her and started to load my plate with lunch.

"You still going with Cedric?" She glanced at the Hufflepuff two tables down.

"Yep." I looked at Cedric, too. He was chatting animatedly with his friends. "Are you going with anyone?"

Morgan hung her head, "No."

I chuckled, causing her to shoot me a murderous glare. "Go with Wood?"

She made a disgusted face. "You were right. He _is_ a jerk."

I laughed. "Told you. Now, what happened?"

She sighed. "Ang, Alicia and I were hanging out with him and that Ravenclaw girl and he was being a complete troll."

I smiled at her. 'I told you so' wouldn't even cover it.

"What are you going to do until the party?" Morgan asked.

I hadn't thought about that. I had a whole afternoon off and I had no plans whatsoever.

"I don't know. What are you going to do?" I asked her.

"I've got a nasty piece of homework I have to do for Transfiguration. Eighteen inches!"

"Great," I muttered sarcastically. I would be stuck in the common room with absolutely nothing to do. Worst of all, Oliver Wood would be there.

"I'm sorry." Morgan gave me an apologetic smile.

I faked a smile. "It's okay."

Lunch ended and we walked to the Gryffindor common room in a comfortable silence. Morgan set her books on an empty table and started her essay. I chose to sit in an old armchair and read _Quidditch Through the Ages_ for the umpteenth time.

I was halfway through chapter five, _Anti-Muggle Precautions_, when I heard him enter the room. He was loud, as always, and causing some sort of commotion. I tried to block it out as I concentrated on the book.

"Aw, look everyone. Little Alyssa is reading about Quidditch. How cute," he said.

I closed my book, unable to concentrate any longer, and looked up at the troll dung-colored eyes of Oliver Wood.

"If you would read about it once in a while, you might win a match or two." I grabbed the rest of my belongings and headed to my dormitory, leaving Wood a light shade of red. I smiled smugly to myself as I climbed the stairs.

Once in the common room, I decided to get ready for the ball. It was six thirty now and it would take at least twenty minutes to get into the monstrous dress my mother sent me. It was the perfect princess dress, though, so I couldn't complain. And it was absolutely gorgeous! It was a pale purple with gold and light pink trim. The sleeves were slightly puffy at the top, but once they reached my elbow, a slit ran up them. The top was slightly low-cut, but didn't show too much. The skirt was perfect. The whole dress was perfect. I was ecstatic.

As I had estimated, it took me at least fifteen minutes to pull on the dress and get it situated. After that, I worked on pulling my hair back into a medieval style bun. I let a few tendrils of hair fall around my face. I pulled out a tiny gold tiara that my mother had sent me and placed it gently on top of my head. I stepped back and stood in front of the floor length mirror.

Satisfied with my appearance, I looked at the clock. It read 7:25.

_I'll head down and wait on Cedric_, I thought. I was supposed to meet him in the Entrance Hall at 7:45. It would take about twenty to thirty minutes to make it there in stilettos, anyway. I shouldn't be waiting too long.

I carefully made my way down the spiral staircase into the common room. Whatever was going on before I safely stepped from the stone onto the carpet stopped abruptly. Dozens of eyes stared at me. Including Oliver Wood's own pair.

I flushed. I hated being the center of attention. Avoiding the Gryffindors in costumes' gazes, I slowly walked over to Morgan. She was already dressed in a small dress with a puffy, net skirt and a pair of glittery wings. She stared at me like I was an alien, too.

"I'm going down to the Entrance Hall to wait on Cedric," I told her awkwardly.

She stared at my dress and nodded. She seemed to be at a loss for words, which was highly unusual for the likes of Morgan Wells.

"See you there," I mumbled as I headed through the portrait hole.

* * *

**A/N:** Wow. An Update. xD Be happy. I'll try to write more. But, this doesn't have the momentum the SD has. Sorry girlies. :)


	6. Chapter 6: The Ball

**Hocus Pocus.**

Oliver Wood.

Cedric looked flawless as he waited in the Entrance Hall. He stood, wearing a tunic and cloak. He even had a fake sword attached to a belt around his waist.

I smiled to myself and descended the staircase to meet Cedric. "Why, Sir Diggory, you look charming this lovely eve."

He turned around, gasped when he saw me, and said, "My lady, you look beautiful."

I blushed as he took my hand in his and gently kissed it. Chivalry wasn't completely dead.

"You look wonderful," I giggled, taking in his outfit. The tunic he wore was yellow and held the Hufflepuff house crest. I wasn't surprised. He had a tremendous amount of school spirit.

"And you," he started. "You look fantastic. I've never seen anyone so beautiful."

I blushed again. Cedric made me feel so good about myself. He made me feel like I was a wonderful person. But the odd thing is, whenever I thought about love and Cedric together, something unknown pulled at the edges of my mind. It tugged just enough for its presence to be known, but not enough to know what it was. It bothered me to no end, but I've learned to ignore it. Maybe I just wasn't used to this new feeling of being so admired.

"Shall we?" Cedric asked, taking my arm in his.

"We shall."

The Great Hall was overly decorated, as usual. Glowing jack-o-lanterns floated near the bewitched ceiling, which was dark except for a few twinkling stars. The school's ghosts drifted eerily around the room while students in costume swayed to the music of The Weird Sisters. Tables filled with students and food were scattered around the edges of the room. Black and orange garland, twinkling lights, and pumpkins lined the wall. It was gorgeous.

The students were also a wonderful sight. There were hags, vampires, ogres, certain Muggles, nymphs, ghouls, goblins, countless fairies, pixies, and even one boy bewitched his clothes to turn to fur every time the fake moon peeked out from behind the fake clouds from above on the bewitched ceiling. I immediately felt at ease when I saw every one in costume: I wasn't the only one looking ridiculous.

Cedric led me to an empty table in the far left corner. He pulled my chair out for me, and after I sat down, pushed it back to the table. He then sat himself and started to help himself to the assortment of sweets on the table. I noticed Acid Pops, Sugar Quills, Cockroach Clusters, Licorice Wands, Cauldron Cakes, and Fizzing Whizzbees amongst the food. Bottles of butterbeer were set around the sweets. I took one and poured it into a goblet.

"It's amazing, isn't it?" Cedric partially yelled over the sound emitting from hidden speakers.

"I love it," I smiled at him.

"Oh no," I heard Cedric mumble. I turned to look at him, only to see him looking towards the Entrance Hall. "Here comes trouble," he said.

It took me a moment to see what he was talking about, but once I saw, I understood. Oliver Wood was making his way over to us. He wore a black suit with a black cape and half of a white mask. He was the Phantom from Phantom of the Opera. He looked strangely attractive.

"You're wearing the wrong costume, Wood," Cedric said. "You should be a troll. You wouldn't have to dress up at all."

Oliver shrugged. "I just wanted to say that Alyssa looks beautiful, if that's alright with you, Cedric."

Cedric's jaw dropped in shock. My cheeks flushed a deep shade of red and I looked away, focusing on the floating pumpkins above me. Oliver awkwardly smiled, bowed, and walked away. Cedric still hadn't recovered from Wood's sudden politeness.

"That was… different," I stated. Maybe Wood was starting to come around and not be a complete troll to me. My thoughts immediately went to Potions and my grade; maybe it would rise if Wood was nicer. What was even _more_ awkward was what I thought when I saw Oliver. He looked _handsome_, not repulsive.

I shoved those thoughts aside when I saw Morgan enter. She spotted Cedric and I and approached us. She sat down and devoured the sweets in front of her.

"Was that Oliver Wood over here earlier?" she asked between bites of Pumpkin Pasties.

"Yea," I mumbled.

"What did he want?"

"To tell Alyssa she looked beautiful," Cedric replied acidly.

Was he jealous? _No,_ I thought, _he couldn't be._ Oliver Wood couldn't like me. He practically hates me. Well.. almost hates me.

Morgan noticed the tone in Cedric's voice and looked at me, worried. I shrugged my shoulders and looked back at Cedric.

"I'm going to get us some drinks." He huffed, stood up, and stomped away.

"We have drinks here, though," Morgan said, confused.

"I think he's mad at Oliver, for some unknown reason. Does he seem jealous to you?"

"Yea.." She trailed off. "It's weird though. Oliver confuses me."

I nodded. I agreed one hundred percent. One moment I thought Oliver Wood wanted nothing more than for me to crawl into a corner and die, the next moment he acts like he _likes_ me. It was very confusing.

"Ooh, Oliver alert," Morgan whispered.

I turned around just in time to see Oliver standing behind me. "Would you like to dance? I was thinking we could talk.."

I glanced at Morgan, who wearily nodded, and stood up. Oliver took my arm and led me to the edge of the dance floor, farthest away from Morgan.

"I'm sorry I've been such a jerk," he said as we started to sway to the soft music.

"It's okay," I mumbled. I felt awkward with Oliver's arms around me. Yet, I found that I _liked _his arms being there. "I haven't been very nice either."

"I was thinking that maybe we could start over and try to be friends, if you want to."

I looked up into Oliver's eyes and smiled. "I'd like that."

* * *

**A/N:** I felt motivated. I wrote all of this in like, 2 hours. :) Update. Yay. 


	7. Chapter 7: Confusion

Hocus Pocus.

Oliver Wood.

Alyssa groggily got out of bed on Monday morning and did her morning rituals in a sleeplike state. After getting dressed and grabbing her school books, she headed down to the common room to finish up the last bit of homework from the weekend. Once there, she settled into a large chair beside the dying fire and started to write the remaining two inches on an essay for Muggle Studies.

Instead of the usual flow of ideas and constant movement of her quill, Alyssa couldn't seem to think of anything other than the Halloween Ball. It had been on her mind all weekend, causing Cedric to worry about her when she didn't seem to notice him at lunch Saturday. She would think of what in the name of Merlin would cause Oliver Wood to act _nice_ to her. It bothered her to no end that she didn't know the answer. She thought about confronting Oliver once or twice when she passed him in the common room, but chickened out and buried her face in a book when he walked by. Just like she was doing now.

Oliver stumbled down the boys' dormitory stepped grumbling. He hated Mondays and everything that went along with them. He missed the weekend. He missed Quidditch practices. He hated wasting time on lessons when him and his team could be on the Quidditch pitch doing drills and learning one of his many complex plays.

He was vaguely aware of the few people occupying the common room; he only saw Alyssa. She was sitting in an oversized red chair, lost in thought. His stomach lept into his throat when she looked up for a moment, caught his stare, and looked back down at her paper.

Oliver blushed like mad as he exited through the portrait hole in a rush. He nearly knocked down a pair of second years in his haste to escape the burning room. After apologizing, he set off in a fast walk to the Great Hall.

_Why does she make me feel this way?_ Oliver asked himself. He was always frustrated with Alyssa and how she acted toward him. He knew it was partially his fault: he wasn't very nice to her when they first met. But, to his defense, he was an eleven-year-old idiot. When you're that age, you pick on the ones you find attractive, not flatter them. So, he teased.. And got cursed. Now, he knew better than those childish antics. He finally brought himself to apologize to her. He finally had a chance. If only he could get rid of that Diggory…

"What did you do to Wood?" Morgan asked Alyssa as she plopped down in the chair next to the fire.

"Nothing…" Alyssa trailed off.

"Well," Morgan stood up, "Let's get some breakfast."

"Good idea." Morgan scribbled some gibberish on her essay and put away her things. She and Morgan headed to the Great Hall in a comfortable silence.

During the course of the day, Alyssa started to notice Oliver more and more. She noticed things that she'd never even wanted to think about before. She saw that he wasn't very muscular, yet the many years of Quidditch left him toned and tight. She saw that his cheekbones fit perfectly with his large, brown eyes. And she noticed how his brown hair had a certain messiness that was actually quite _attractive._

_Stop this,_ Alyssa told herself. _You're being foolish. You have a wonderful boyfriend, whom you like very, very much. Stop fantasizing about some troll that has just started to be nice to you and is incredibly attractive and has a wonderful, toned--_

"Ally, dear." Cedric's voice suddenly snapped Alyssa out of her inner battle. "Are you okay? You look.. torn."

Alyssa looked at Cedric's confused face and smiled sweetly. "I'm fine," she lied. _I'm just having an internal conflict about whether or not I should ditch you and hit up Wood for a date._

Cedric hesitated, then smiled in reply. "Well, I'll see you at lunch?"

"Yea.." Alyssa smiled, pecked his cheek, and walked to Muggle Studies in a sort of trance.

Oliver's heart beat in double time when Alyssa walked into the Great Hall. He saw her follow Morgan to the Gryffindor table and sit down. Trying not to stare, he looked away, focusing on a first year Hufflepuff who was occupying himself by picking his nose.

Oliver grimaced and looked away. He found himself looking at Alyssa again. This time, Cedric was by her side. He watched the pair exchange words, Cedric with a confused look on his face. Then Alyssa kissed Cedric. Oliver's stomach did flips, making him feel uneasy.

He watched Alyssa walk out of the Great Hall while fighting to urge to vomit in his breakfast.

* * *

**A/N:** I changed it from first to third person. I was getting tired of first. I might change the whole series prior to this chapter, but not any time soon. It's after 2 am, so please ignore any grammar errors. Night, chikas. 


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